I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 286 Re-entering the Buddhist Temple
The Turkic queen was taken aback; she had never heard her son speak to her so harshly.

Ashina Mu said coldly, "Guards, the Empress Dowager is tired. Escort her back to her palace to rest."

A palace maid stepped forward shakily, saying, "Please, Empress Dowager, return to the palace."

"Outrageous!" the Turkic Queen Mother roared, "Ashinam, are you trying to place me under house arrest?"

"Your Majesty is too kind. I only ordered your return to the palace because Your Majesty was overworked and unwell. As long as Your Majesty does not trespass into the Water Garden again, you are free to move around the Turkic palace as you please. How can this be considered house arrest?"

The Turkic Empress Dowager looked at Consort Zhi kneeling in the corner, humble, gentle, and pitiful, as if the quarrel had nothing to do with her.

Caught off guard, the Turkic Empress Dowager stepped forward and slapped Consort Zhi hard across the face. "You lowly servant! It must be you who bewitched the Khan, causing him to become estranged from me."

Consort Zhi's mouth was bleeding from the slap, and the handprint on her fair face was clearly visible. She did not shout or scream, but only knelt down and begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please understand, I would never dare to do anything so disrespectful as to bewitch the Emperor! If Your Majesty insists on believing this, I am willing to die to prove my innocence."

As Consort Zhi spoke, she scrambled to her feet and rammed her head against a nearby pillar.

"Lan'er!" Ashina Mu stopped Consort Zhi from hitting the pillar just before she did, and held her in his arms to comfort her with heartache. "You don't need to care what outsiders say. As long as I believe in you, that's enough!"

"Great Khan!" Consort Zhi cried out in anguish.

The word "outsider" pierced the heart of the Turkic Queen Dowager like a steel knife. Never before had she so clearly realized that her relationship with Ashina Mu had become so strained.

Sure enough, she was right to favor her eldest son. In his heart, his mother, the Empress, always came first!

Perhaps she was wrong before. She only had one son, her eldest son, and Ashina Mu was just a Khan born through her womb.

However, Ashina Mu forgot how he obtained his position as Khan!
The Turkic queen looked at the two people snuggling together, sneered, and turned to leave.

The palace servants followed behind the Turkic Queen Dowager and left the palace in unison.

Inside the palace, Consort Zhi, her eyes brimming with tears, said, "It's all my fault. If I hadn't offended the Empress Dowager, the relationship between the Khan and the Empress Dowager wouldn't have deteriorated to this point. I'm truly ashamed to live in this world."

Ashina Mu reassured her, "In the Empress Dowager's heart, there is no such son as Ben Khan. You are just an excuse for the Empress Dowager to make trouble for Ben Khan."

Consort Zhi was well aware of this; she simply welcomed the situation.

The more strained Ashinamu's relationship with the Empress Dowager, the more he will rely on her, and the better she can control Ashinamu to avenge his son!
A glint flashed in Consort Zhi's eyes; one day, she would make Dayu pay a terrible price!

In the Empress Dowager's palace, a eunuch hurriedly returned to report, "Your Majesty, the news has spread out of the palace. I, Da Ye, have informed Your Majesty that the operation will take place at the morning court tomorrow."

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction.

The following day, Ashina Mu went to court, and a court official submitted a memorial accusing the Consort Zhi of bewitching the emperor and demanding that she be immediately removed from the Water Garden and banished to the inner palace.

Ashinamu turned a deaf ear.

Da Yehu Ashide Muyang stood at the forefront of the court officials, taking in the impatience and disgust on Ashina Mu's face.

Consort Zhi cannot be allowed to remain.

"I heard that yesterday the Khan offended the Empress Dowager by holding the Imperial Concubine hostage. Although our Turks are not like the Great Yu, we also value filial piety. How can the Khan be a role model for the people of the world with such behavior?"

Ashide Muyang declared emphatically, "We beg the Khan to execute Consort Zhi to appease the Empress Dowager's anger and uphold filial piety!" The court officials knelt and pleaded in unison, "We beg the Khan to execute Consort Zhi to appease the Empress Dowager's anger and uphold filial piety!"

"What if I, the Khan, refuse?"

"If the Khan does not agree, then we will kneel here forever!"

"Insolence! Are you trying to force me, the Khan?"

Ashina Mu slammed his fist on the table and stood up, “You court officials should be thinking about the affairs of the world, not meddling in the inner palace!”

Ashide Muyang did not back down an inch. "The Khan is the ruler of the Turks. Family matters are also state matters. It has already spread among the people that Consort Zhi has disrespected the Empress Dowager. If the Khan is biased towards Consort Zhi, how can he face the people of the world?"

Ashina Mu laughed angrily, "Fine, fine, kneel for as long as you want!"

After Ashinamu finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves and strode away.

Ashide Muyang and a group of court officials knelt motionless in the main hall.

Inside the water garden, Consort Zhi, who had already heard the eunuchs reporting the contents of the morning court, gritted her teeth in hatred.

Ashide's move was truly ruthless; it was like putting her on the hot seat of the fire!
Consort Zhi paced back and forth in the palace, pondering a solution. However, before she could come up with a solution, Ashina Mu rushed over angrily.

Consort Zhi feigned ignorance, "Why is the Great Khan so furious?"

Ashina Mu didn't want Consort Zhi to feel guilty or troubled because of the previous dynasty's affairs, so he didn't want to say much to her. He simply reached out and pulled Consort Zhi to lie down on the gold-threaded cashmere carpet, saying, "My head is throbbing badly. Rub it for me."

Consort Zhi gently agreed, her soft hands lightly pressing on the acupoints on Ashina's wooden body.

The splitting headache subsided considerably, and Ashina Mu sighed comfortably, assuring him, "Don't worry, I will definitely protect you."

"Your Majesty, I believe in you."

In the Empress Dowager's palace, upon hearing that Ashina Mu was determined to protect Consort Zhi despite the advice of all the court officials, the Empress Dowager angrily smashed all the precious ornaments in the hall.

"I really don't know which mountain that vixen is from. Her methods of bewitching men are truly remarkable. Not only did she bewitch the late emperor, causing him to disregard his hatred for the Song family of Dayu and take her as a concubine, but she also seduced Ashina Mu, who cherished her and protected her with utmost care."

"If we don't get rid of this vixen who brings disaster to the country, won't our Turkic people perish?"

The palace attendants and servants inside the hall were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground.

It's hateful that she didn't get rid of that bitch last time, and instead caused her to lose her power over the harem. This time she will definitely not let that bitch go!
All the court officials knelt in the council hall for five whole days, but Ashina Mu could not change his mind. Instead, one by one, the court officials could not hold on and were sent out of the palace by the palace attendants.

After a stalemate lasting half a month, the court officials finally compromised, no longer demanding the execution of Consort Zhi, but only requesting that she be sent out of the palace and back to a Buddhist temple to practice and pray for the country.

Ashina Mu was initially unwilling, but upon receiving Emperor Pingyuan's reply promising to join forces to eliminate the Northwest Army, he immediately changed his mind.

Rather than leaving Consort Zhi in the palace to be targeted by the Empress Dowager and court officials, it would be better to let her leave temporarily. After the Turks destroyed the Northwest Army and conquered Dayu, he would bring Consort Zhi back to the palace in a grand manner.

Consort Zhi had no idea what Ashina Mu was thinking. No matter how much she pleaded and acted coquettishly, she couldn't change Ashina Mu's decision. So she could only pretend to be magnanimous and understanding, and under the protection of the guards, she returned to Huguo Temple to continue her practice.